Since the mission has been accomplished in Ohio, this will likely be my last post. Many thanks to all who contributed to restoring adoptee rights in Ohio.  Hopefully, the material referenced here will help others in their struggle in the remaining closed states.

Please don't let this chance to ROAR pass you by!

Please don't let this chance to Restore Ohio Adoptee Rights pass you by!

Each of us who cares about this needs to dig deep into our resources to make it happen.  This includes time, effort and money.  These opportunities are RARE.  If you want the law changed, do everything you can to make it happen.  Everything helps - please just act and keep it up: attend the hearings, call & write legislators & newspapers and give a little to cover the expenses, PLEASE!

• Communicating with legislators for ROAR2013
• Donating to ROAR2013

This is OUR TIME!
This is OUR CAUSE!
This is OUR RESPONSIBILITY!
FIGHT TO RESTORE YOUR RIGHTS!

Three Years to a bill (actually longer)

THREE YEARS after I started this blog, there is finally a bill to restore my rights in Ohio.  God it feels good.  So many people working so hard for so long - very excited.  I love what Adoption Equity Ohio (AEO) is doing with the effort.  Lots of good coverage in social media channels and plenty of places identified to help.  I'm including one of their banner images:

Adoption Equity Ohio - ROAR2013

Ways To Help

Tonight I saw the most concrete set of ways to contribute to the cause in a recent post/update from AEO.  Now that there's an actual bill, supporters can finally reference exactly what they need to put their voice behind: Senate Bill SB23 and House Bill HB61!  You can help by spreading the word of your support for this bill under these two numbers and legislators throughout the Ohio Legislature will know exactly what you want.

Among the things you can do, which are listed in the post by AEO (see bullet points), are:

• Attend committee hearings
• Write letters to the editors of local newspapers
• Write legislators
• Write your adoption agency
• And even make financial contributions

Each of these things (except attending the committee hearings) can be done anytime and multiple times between now and when the bill becomes law - so, if you haven't done anything yet, it's not too late to act!

I'm so very excited  

I hope in my own small way I can help get the word out and ensure that people know I'm in favor of this bill to restore adoptee rights in Ohio.  It's taken three years since I started this blog to even get a chance at a bill, but it's been almost 20 since this area of law has actually changed - a reminder to me of how many people have been working for so long before me to correct this injustice.

Please, if you're reading this, click the link above, pick a task or two and take the action to help make this happen.

Please.

And thank you :-)

Finally! A bill on the horizon!

After much waiting, it looks like Adoption Network Cleveland and Adoption Equity Ohio may have pulled off introduction of the first bill to restore adoptee rights in Ohio in years.  Looks like their #ROAR2013 campaign is set to kick off in 2013 and has the goal of at least restoring birth certificate access to adoptees born & adopted in the closed years of 1964-1996.  This could be quite momentous. Here's one adoptee sincerely hoping it happens and standing ready to support this bill with all my might!

See Adoption Equity Ohio's Site for details!

Foiled by the probate court

Well, after more than $1,000 and months of working and waiting, the probate court denied my petition to access my original birth certificate. Can't say I'm surprised but I am surprised at how much rage it surfaced in me. The judge cited expectations of confidentiality and that I hadn't shown sufficient cause. Amazing to think that another citizen's potential wishes trump my birthright. Ohio makes me so mad sometimes.

For other adoptees considering the same route, please note that contrary to the advice given me by the probate court clerk, you do not have to hire an attorney (apparently neither the clerk nor my attorney was really up on that little tidbit). I'd say save yourself the money and make a stab at it yourself. You'll likely be just as disappointed with the outcome, but you'll save over $1,000.

I now think we're all just better off fighting even harder, making phone calls and actually visiting with legislators - imploring them to sponsor a bill to restore adult adoptee rights.

I'm mad as hell and should probably refrain from writing more at this point.

New AEO Initiative

So excited to see Adoption Equity Ohio launch a new letter-writing campaign to restore adoptee rights! I always welcome another chance to feel like I'm contributing to ending the insanity of sealed records!
Click the envelope to see the details at the site: adoptionequityohio.org.

They also added a nifty new video summarizing the cause.

The Motion/Petition Route

Well, it's been a while since I've posted I see. In the past few months I've started taking a different tack (beyond volunteer and paid searchers) and decided to try the legal route. I've hired an attorney in the State of Ohio to file a petition on my behalf to obtain my original birth certificate. Among the arguments the legal firm is considering are:

• Freedom of Information Act
• Equal treatment under the law
• Citing that the contract to seal the record was between the birth parent, adoptive parent and the state and that this leaves out one critical party: ME, the adoptee
• Common law practice in the modern era is to assume the records are open unless the birth parent requests them be sealed, so as a consequence, the 1964-1996 laws are out-of-step with common public policy of the present.

I've also drafted a personal appeal letter to the judge to personalize/humanize the package we give the judge.

In the county where my adoption took place, I have the interesting issue of dealing with an interim judge because the primary/former judge has recently retired. After doing some research on the interim judge, I find that he seems rather conservative in his views and since he'll only be serving through the end of September, I've decided to wait and take my chances on the more permanent judge who'll be appointed to replace the temporary one.

I sincerely hope the birth parents and truth that I seek won't be lost to a death that occurs in the next few months. That would be quite hard to acknowledge - particularly if my not waiting might have gotten me closer to the answers I've always sought.

I fantasize also that, if this petition succeeds, it might help lay additional precedent for the state to acknowledge how antiquated and unjust the 1964-1996 law is. I guess we'll see. My hopes aren't very high, but for the roughly $600 it's costing me, I figure it's worth a try.